Chicago — October 21, 2011
—
Hotel
managers have long experienced the logistical and costly hurdles of
having to
manage the loss of staff master key cards. With the uptake of Mobile
Key by
OpenWays – the industry’s first and only ubiquitous mobile phone guest
front
desk bypass method allowing the unlocking of guestroom doors –
hoteliers have
been quick to realize the additional opportunity to help mobilize their
workforce. As a result, OpenWays announces the launch of Mobile Master Key.

Appropriate administration of master
keys is critically important for the safe and secure management of any
hotel.

“Currently, when a master key is lost or stolen, each and
every lock must be manually re-programmed to ensure that anyone finding
the master
key cannot open every door in the hotel," said Pascal Metivier,
OpenWays
founder and CEO. "Master Key losses happen more often than we think.
What's
important is that the loss is reported quickly so hotel staff can
immediately
walk to every lock in the property and get them reprogrammed. The
procedure is
a must to keep proper
security, but
it is a major burden and it repeats itself every time a master key card
is lost."
With OpenWays Mobile
Master Key, neutralizing a lost or stolen master key happens
simply with
the push of a button. There are no locks to walk to and reprogram. It's
a highly
secure and easy process. Since reporting the loss now has limited
consequences,
staff members are more inclined to immediately report a loss vs. trying
to find
their plastic card for hours before eventually reporting the loss to
hotel
security."

While it is essential to audit all plastic master keys
for safety and security reasons, the intensive use of each traditional
master
key subjects them to greater wear and tear. When they become damaged or
demagnetized, the hotel employee must stop what he or she is doing,
secure any
property in their possession (for instance housekeeping/linen carts)
and obtain
a fresh master key. Mobile Master Key
enables housekeeping, engineering, maintenance and of course those
staff with security
responsibilities to use a simple mobile phone without the risk of card
damage.

“Core to our solution is the convenience factor for
guests in being able to use their mobile device as their room key,"
Metivier said. "Since it is compatible with every mobile device on the
market, inexpensive devices are now available to put Mobile Master Key in the hands of
all appropriate staff members too."

Insant On-Line
Master Key Management
In addition to the online and real-time
control of Mobile Master Key,
management can now track their use instantly while also running reports
and
analyzing statistics. Equally beneficial, this can be conducted from
anywhere
-- including in front of the door itself -- without the burden of
uploading
lock data with a handheld device to then download it to a central
computer to
eventually see what happened.

Tony Kotelman, chief engineer at the Holiday
Inn Suites Chicago O'Hare Rosemont, is a fan of Mobile Master Key. As one of the
first properties to install the
solution, he said having a mobile method for propagating electronic
locks after
a traditional plastic master key has been lost is the most efficient
way to
operate. (Click here to view Kotelman discussing Mobile Key
by Holiday Inn.)

"It’s not
uncommon to find a room key laying on the ground, and it could be
disastrous if
that key is a master belonging to hotel staff,” Kotelman said. “Rather
than having
engineering walk to each door in order to cancel the master code in
every lock
of the hotel – and for us that’s over 300 doors – we can simply cancel
it
online and re-issue new credentials at the server level. Being able to
do this
online is saving us a lot of time, and our staff can be used more
productively
to resolve other guest or facility issues.”

On average it takes two minutes per lock to switch out
a traditional master key code using the manual process. For a property
with 350
rooms or more, it can take up to a full day or longer just to reprogram
master key
settings at the lock. During this time, security is compromised, and no
one can really be sure that every lock was
reprogrammed.

“We are
extremely happy with Mobile Key
because we don't worry any longer about
lost keys,” Kotelman said. “It was very easy to install and took only
four days
to get the entire property equipped. Now
when we find a lost keycard, or if housekeeping tells us their master
key isn’t
working, we can stop the credential in real time, and without any
hassle get a
new credential issued. It also gives us real-time tracking and audit
trail of
all keys, including master keys.”

The OpenWays Mobile
Master Key also helps with:

Mobile Task Management by SMS or Email with Automatic
Master Key Rights Management – Staff members can be assigned tasks
including instructions on where to go and what to do. The OpenWays Mobile Master Key can be set to
only access the room that requires work.

WiFi and Data Plan Benefits – The devices issued to staff
could be basic mobile phones or smartphones. Because smartphones
operate on a data network, operators can use the hotel’s WiFi network.
Using a simple iPod Touch or similar device with WiFi capability means
lower costs and it prevents staff from using the device for personal
use.

Ubiquitous Support – The OpenWays Mobile Master Key works with all 5.8
billion mobile devices on the market. The integrated Mobile Key
solution is compatible with the major electronic door locks on the
hospitality market and it is compatible with ALL cell phone network
technologies and ALL Mobile OS standards.

"By controlling the credential
issuance in an on-line and real-time fashion, OpenWays is bringing
on-line
management capabilities to stand alone off-line electronic-locking
systems in a
highly efficient and cost-effective manner," Metivier said. "We see
this as a major benefit in today's security-conscious world."

Visitors attending the International Hotel/Motel &
Restaurant Show in New York Nov. 13-15 at the Jacob K. Javits
Convention Center
are invited to see the OpenWays
Mobile
Master Key solution in Booth No. 3172. To pre-schedule an
appointment, call
Andrew Sanders at (732) 707-1869 or email [email protected].

About OpenWays

OpenWays is a global
solution provider of mobile-based access-management and security
solutions.
With offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Seoul and in
Europe, OpenWays provides technology solutions allowing for the secure
issuance and delivery of access rights and keys process via any cell
phone
operating on any network. The OpenWays solution is truly unique as it
built on
the concept of credential dematerialization. The OpenWays mobile room
key
solution works on ALL the
5.8 billion cell phones in service in
the world today. For more information, please contact Barb Worcester at
+1 440
930-5770 or email [email protected].
More information can be found by visiting www.OpenWays.com.